County employment and wages, third quarter 2013

From September 2012 to September 2013, employment increased in 286 of the 334 largest U.S. counties. Fort Bend, Texas, had the largest increase, with a gain of 6.0 percent over the year, compared with national job growth of 1.7 percent.

The 334 U.S. counties with 75,000 or more jobs accounted for 71.4 percent of total U.S. employment and 76.6 percent of total wages. These 334 counties had a net job growth of 1.7 million over the year, accounting for 75.8 percent of the overall U.S. employment increase.

Employment declined in 44 of the large counties from September 2012 to September 2013. Peoria, Illinois, had the largest over-the-year percentage decrease in employment (-3.7 percent).

The U.S. average weekly wage increased over the year by 1.9 percent to $922 in the third quarter of 2013. San Mateo, California, had the largest over-the-year increase in average weekly wages with a gain of 9.9 percent.

Among the 334 largest counties, 291 had over-the-year increases in average weekly wages, and 40 experienced over-the-year decreases in average weekly wages. Pinellas, Florida, had the largest percentage decrease in average weekly wage, with a loss of 4.3 percent.

These data are from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages program. To learn more, see "County Employment and Wages: Third Quarter 2013" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-14-0433. These data are derived from summaries of employment of workers covered by state and federal unemployment insurance. Data for 2013 are preliminary and subject to revision.